Emil looked around.
*Silence*
Mr Pewterschmidt raised his eyebrow slightly.
"See what?"
He walked up to Emil and examined the orb.
There was nothing wrong with it no matter which angle he looked at it.
"Is something the matter?"
Emil opened and closed his mouth.
Could they really not see it?
It was right before their eyes, how could they not see it?
Mr Pewterschmidt, seeing that Emil wasn't answering, opened his mouth.
"Fire element, 4th grade affinity.
You may leave the stage."
He gestured for Emil to leave.
Emil's mouth opened and closed continuously.
He could tell them about the burning dark spot occupying an entire half of the mana orb, but they still wouldn't believe him if they couldn't see it.
Furthermore, he himself wasn't exactly sure what he was seeing was real.
Without any evidence to support himself, and without even believing his own eyes, all he could do was to open and close his mouth several times in an attempt to speak, before giving up and walking down.
*Murmur*
"Puahahah, the poor bastard must be too shocked to even believe how trash how he is."
"I'd be shocked too. He's trash amongst trash, I'd be shocked too if I was born so useless."
The privileged noble children hailing from superior bloodlines laughed and mocked Emil among themselves, but the man in question couldn't hear any of their words.
If what he saw just now was true, then it meant he was an Elemental Saint.
Elemental Saints were people possessing dual elements, with 100% affinity with both of them too. For the record, 80% affinity was considered first grade and 90% top grade.
Only Elemental Saints could achieve 100% affinity with their elements.
Elemental Saints were insanely rare. Within the planet were several continents, hundreds of small, dozens of middle, and many large sized kingdoms, not to mention the incredibly vast empires.
Throughout all these lands, only a few hundred Elemental Saints were known to exist.
As if that wasn't enough, Elemental saints always came bearing two out of the four most common elements, Fire, Water, Earth and Wind.
Emil had never heard of an Elemental Saint with the light or darkness element appearing in the entire history of Arran kingdom.
Even that mad dog, Ricard, was known as the brightest talent of the entire generation just for awakening Wind and Water element.
Emil's head was firing in full force.
He had a million questions to ask but no answers.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Was he really an Elemental Saint? With Fire And Darkness element at that? If so why couldn't the others tell? Why was he the only one who could see the darkness mana within the mana orb? More importantly, if he was really an Elemental Saint then why was his fire affinity only 4th grade? It should've been Saint grade!
To begin with, was awakening a rare element as an Elemental Saint even possible? Has there been an example in the world before?
Doubts filled his mind as they were moved to the second test venue, giving him no time to sort out his thoughts.
The second part of the test was upon them.
They started with the intelligence quotient test.
Magic wasn't always about blasting fireballs and drowning people in water.
It included complicated subjects on may fields, and it needed a good brain to handle it.
Even the speed at which you learn spells could be determined by your Intelligence.
Unsurprisingly, the examinees were met with a paper exam.
Some problems Emil had no idea about, some he could solve.
Either way he gave it his best.
Their combat abilities were tested next.
At the center of the venue stood five training dummies, each made out of steel, with inscriptions on them.
Examinees were to proceed in groups of five and use their best attacks on them.
Mages could use spells, Knights could use weapons provided by the Academy.
The first group to go was a group of mages.
They each chanted their best spells respectively and attacked the dummies.
The sight wasn't at all impressive. The current examinees were only at the first stage of the red rank, and they didn't know any advanced spells.
But the results spoke for themselves.
Emil was amazed at the sight. He saw with his own eyes what a small series of pebbles travelling at high speed did to the steel training dummies.
They didn't look impressive but they sure were powerful.
Any normal person would be fatally injured under those attacks.
Once the mages were done with their spells, the dummies regenerated back to top condition and numbers from 0 to 100 appeared above them.
The lowest number was 40, which was enough to create small dents in the dummies and the highest was 60 which resulted in several large dents.
Next up were knights.
Some chose weapons, some chose to go barehanded.
A series of seemingly normal attacks followed, which dealt considerable damage to the dummies.
It was a sight, taking into account the examinees' small physiques. They were still children after all.
From the looks of it, they all knew how to augment their bodies with mana.
Augmentation was the act of enforcing a part of, or your entire body with mana.
It made the body stronger, faster and more resilient. It was also the reason the examinees were capable of superhuman feats.
The test continued and the examinees each got a turn at the dummies.
On average, a Knight would score between 30 to 60 while mages did 40 to 70.
It was evident that mages had more firepower compared to knights.
Soon, it was time for the final group to attack the dummies.
Emil was among them, but he looked a bit distressed.
Right now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
On one hand, he didn't know augmentation like others since he only awakened a few days ago, on the other hand excessive force could worsen his arm fracture, taking away any confidence of doing well in this test from him.
He was scared, and hesitating. Should he back out?
He looked towards the teachers.
Mr Pewterschmidt could more or less understand what was going on.
But he didn't say anything.
Even if it's just formalities, everyone had to take this test regardless of their situation.
Having no other choice, Emil slowly walked up to the platforms, being the last to set foot there.
*Chuckle*Chuckle*Murmur*
"Look at the idiot, he can't even attack a training dummy."
"How did a useless bum like him get into the academy?"
"I have no idea who he is but he must have some stupidly good luck to get into the academy with his garbage talents."
Emil could hear them loud and clearly. They weren't hiding their voices.
But that only served to deter him.
'they're right, i really am useless.'
Emil closed his eyes and dropped his head as his self esteem got lower and lower.
He may have acted tough all this time, but deep down he was just a sad and lonely child, with no one who ever supported him or believed in him.
It was always him against the world. Him against the odds. And the odds never seemed to favor him.
Not when his parents disappeared on him, not when he toiled away as a servant of the Burton mansion for years.
Not when he was born with one of the most gruesome physical conditions in the world and had to suffer since birth.
Not when he broke his arm or not when he was deemed a trash because of his talents.
He'd come here with many hopes and dreams, but they were shattered one by one when he realized just how hopeless he was against the odds.
As feelings of shame and despair washed through him, his eyes caught a glance of his left hand. There on his index finger sat a black ring with the head of an unknown creature carved into it.
A parting gift from his parents, and a promise he was yet to fulfill...
Strength slowly came back to Emil's body as he raised his head and moved straight for the weapon rack.
His sudden movements caught everyone surprised.
Without any pause or hesitation, he reached out for a sword and unsheathed it from its sheathe before looking at his own reflection on the blade.
A sword, it was his father's weapon of choice, and he was planning follow in his footsteps.